Our Stories & Voices

One metric for evaluating an organization’s commitment to Diversity Equity and Inclusion is the proportion of staff who reflect the community that the organization serves. A further step is evaluating the proportion of the leadership team (staff and board of directors) that are diverse. ONE|NB works across Greater Providence, but our historical home is the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence: our headquarters is in this neighborhood and it is where most of rental apartments are  located. Olneyville residents are ethnically and racial diverse with two-thirds identifying as Latinx while 18% identify as Black and 7% as two or more races. In…

For nearly a year I have served as the Assistant Director of Asset Management for ONE|NB. I am honored to have been tasked with overseeing the ONE|NB Continuum of Care Program (CoC).  The concept is simple: Housing First.  The CoC provides permanent supportive housing to those who have experienced chronic or long-term homelessness.  The implementation, well that is a different ball game! In 2018 ONE|NB committed to setting-aside 25% of its one-bedroom apartments for supportive housing.  To be successful we know we needed a social service partner who has experience in working with the chronically homeless, and that we needed…

By Jennifer Hawkins, President and Executive Director   Rhode Island’s eviction moratorium is set to expire on July 1. As a community development landlord, ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) owns more than 375 rental apartments and is responsible for maintaining these properties to a superior standard. We are committed to eliminating obstacles to health equity among the roughly 15,000 neighbors who live within our Central Providence Health Equity Zone (CP-HEZ)—and recognize that stable and affordable housing is paramount.    As a landlord and as a community-builder, ONE|NB works to prevent evictions due to non-payment of rent—both with our own properties and in the broader Central Providence community. We do not always succeed, but...

By Jennifer Hawkins Adapted from an essay for NeighborWorks America’s Achieving Excellence program Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into sharp relief chronic, severe health disparities faced by people of color and low-income communities. As a nonprofit community development corporation (CDC), ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) has worked for decades to address social determinants of health (SDOH’s), such as housing affordability, economic stability, early education, neighborhood safety, environmental justice, and food access. In the past five years, we have increasingly emphasized this work and invested in personnel who are dedicated to it. ONE|NB serves as the backbone for the Central Providence…

The Sheridan Small Homes Groundbreaking Ceremony on October 28, 2019, was a singularly exciting moment. The project consists of five single-family homes that are relatively small, at approximately 750 square feet of livable space, and are designed to be “net-zero.” As sustainable building practices and standards have gained traction, many related new terms and standards have emerged. For example, this project is also slated to become “Passive House Certified.” But what do these terms and standards actually mean? Net-zero or zero-energy refers to the overall production and consumption of energy by a building. Our built environment was responsible for approximately…

If you’ve driven along Manton Avenue recently, you may have noticed our ONE|NB fences adorning the lot where our new Manton Avenue Live/Work project is set to be built.  Construction begins this fall! The colorful fences are attractive, yes, and they let the community know that ONE|NB’s got a new project in the works, but they are also much more than that. The unique 100’ construction fence was created by local non-profit and Central Providence Health Equity Zone member, The Steel Yard through their Weld to Work 1.5 program. Weld to Work is a job-training program that teaches participants the…

Building Equity: Home, Health, and Opportunity In the summer of 2017, ONE|NB set out to develop a new home in the Elmwood neighborhood.  To date, ONE|NB has built and sold over 120 affordable homes for first-time buyers.  In order to bridge the gap between the cost of construction and a sales price that is affordable to a low to moderate income buyer, we applied for HOME funds from the City of Providence.  We also looked to our long-standing community partner, Building Futures, to help us reduce construction costs and increase our impact. Building Futures provides opportunities for low-income diverse community…